Tokkibiri Cliffside Road, Mungyeong

Tokkibiri Cliffside Road, Mungyeong, is a cheondo (遷道: a road cut into a cliff beside a river), built into the mountain slope leading from Jinnammun Gate of Seokhyeonseong Fortress to Ojeongsan Mountain and the Yeonggang River, and it is known as the most treacherous stretch of the old Yeongnam-daero highway. According to the Sinjeung dongguk yeoji seungnam, when King Taejo of Goryeo, Wang Geon, marched south and reached this spot, the road had disappeared, but a hare happened to run off along the cliff and open up a path, and from this the place came to be called 'Tocheon' (兎遷). 'Biri' is a dialect form of 'byeoru', meaning a dangerous cliff beside a river or the sea. Tokkibiri is a road formed on cliffs created where the Yeonggang River, flowing down from Gaeun in Mungyeong, meets the Joryeongcheon Stream flowing down from Mungyeong Saejae, then carves an S-shaped course through the mountain gorge, eroding the hills to the east. The winding path cut into the rock cliff to allow passage runs for six or seven ri (a traditional unit of distance), yet is so narrow and rough that barely one person can pass at a time. Tokkibiri commands a beautiful view in which the Yeonggang River below the road, the cliffs, and the village on the opposite bank come together, and here and there along the old road survive traces of a jumak street (a row of roadside taverns), a village guardian shrine, and two sacred dangnamu trees, showing the varied culture of the old road.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Mungyeong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Scenic Site · 명승